DA: New Bedford murder victim killed in mistaken identity because he resembled gang member

Antonio J. Semedo was shot and killed while driving on Route 18 four years ago because he resembled a gang member who was being targeted for his role in a 2004 city homicide, authorities said Monday.

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By BRIAN FRAGA

southcoasttoday.com

By BRIAN FRAGA

Posted May. 25, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 25, 2010 at 8:01 AM

By BRIAN FRAGA

Posted May. 25, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 25, 2010 at 8:01 AM

» Social News

NEW BEDFORD — Antonio J. Semedo was shot and killed while driving on Route 18 four years ago because he resembled a gang member who was being targeted for his role in a 2004 city homicide, authorities said Monday.

Semedo, 35, a father of a young child and whose brother was a New Bedford police officer, was not gang-affiliated, prosecutors said.

"He was killed as a result of a mistaken identification," Assistant District Attorney John Stapleton said during Monday's arraignment of Reggie M. Greene, who is charged with murder and accessory before the fact.

Greene, 28, of New Bedford, was held without bail. His lawyer, Gerald FitzGerald Jr., said the police affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrant contained no evidence to justify his client being charged with Semedo's murder.

"There is nothing given that indicates with any credibility that this man is connected to this death," FitzGerald said.

Judge Bernadette Sabra sealed the affidavit because prosecutors said the investigation remains ongoing and that witnesses are concerned about retaliation.

Semedo's sister, Ana Gaspa, said she was pleased that someone had been arrested in her brother's murder.

"It's so sad," Gaspa said. "How can people have no heart, going around shooting people? Where do these people get these guns?"

Officials said Semedo's murder had its origins in a West End murder two years earlier.

On April 24, 2004, Greene's brother, Robert Greene Jr., was found shot to death on the front porch of his family's Smith Street house. Police said gunshots were exchanged and a vehicle was seen fleeing the area.

Ballistics evidence showed that two shots had been fired at Greene. Shell casings were recovered from a third gun, which prosecutors said was fired at the men who shot Greene.

The shooting capped two weeks of intermittent drive-by shootings throughout New Bedford. Robert Greene's murder remains unsolved.

Hours after Greene's murder, Stapleton said multiple shots were fired at a house that belonged to one individual who Reggie Greene suspected of being involved in his brother's death.

Four years later, on June 18, 2006, prosecutors said that Greene and other men affiliated with the United Front street gang had left a house party. Stapleton said they drove into the South End when Greene received a telephone call regarding the location of one of the gunmen in his brother's murder.

Greene and his friends reportedly drove to that location and saw Semedo's vehicle. They followed the car onto Route 18 and tried to verify that the operator was the gang member they were targeting, according to prosecutors.

"While they waited for information to confirm the identity of the person they were looking for, Mr. Semedo drove off and they followed behind," Stapleton said. "Reggie Green was still on the phone trying to confirm that Mr. Semedo was, in fact, the person they were looking for."

Stapleton said Semedo resembled the gang member in question.

An unidentified man in the passenger seat fired several rounds through the window, striking Semedo. His vehicle crashed on the off-ramp to South Second Street. A witness saw the incident and called police, according to prosecutors.

However, FitzGerald said none of the police reports he saw indicated any witnesses who corroborated the allegations.

Court records show Reggie Greene's criminal record includes three stints in jail and prior arrests for distribution of crack cocaine, illegal possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana, and assault and battery.

Four months after Semedo's murder, in October 2006, narcotics police arrested Greene and Terrell Baptiste, a reputed United Front gang member, after obtaining a search warrant for Greene's residence at 137 Sycamore St. Police confiscated crack cocaine, marijuana, packaging materials, cash and ammunition. Greene served one year in state prison, court records said.